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FAIRMONT - For the past six months, adults on Minnesota Medical Assistance ages 21 and older, and the providers that treated them, have been dealing with a change that removes chiropractic care from this coverage.
Dr. Scott Burtis of Burtis Chiropractic in Fairmont said people commonly come in to have their backs and necks worked on, and his practice also includes nutritional consultations.
He had heard early in 2025 from the Minnesota Chiropractic Association that this was a possibility, and then that it had passed during that year’s legislative session. In his 38 years of practice in Fairmont, Burtis said at some points up to 25 percent of his patients were on medical assistance, which is called Medicaid federally.
"We started telling patients, 'Just to let you know, come January 1, we’re really sorry but medical assistance is ending [for chiropractic]'" Burtis said.
In speaking with his patients at the time, Burtis said they expressed disappointment at what was happening.
"A lot of folks have already tried [other] things, and they’re like, 'I don’t want to go back to that. I sure don’t want to go back on medication for pain relief,'" he said.
Even for families where members under 21 can get care, the family heads have been left without care unless they can pay out of pocket.
"Sometimes families would come in as a family, and the mom and dad, or maybe the mom and two or three kids will get adjusted too," Burtis said. "Now the mom has to come in and get the kids adjusted, which is great, but Mom has to sit there and watch the kids get adjusted, and she can’t come in unless she wants to pay cash. You’re not in a medical assistance because you have cash laying around. You know, so very frustrating. It’s tough to watch those people."
As time has passed, Burtis said he is continuing to see people under 21 who are covered under Medical Assistance, but older adults have struggled.
"When they call in and we say, 'okay, you gotta pay out of pocket, now they’re like, 'I can’t afford this, that’s why I’m on Medical Assistance,'" he said. "They can’t just go to some other chiropractor, because it’s across the board. They’re either foregoing care, or they’re seeing their family doctor and getting pain medication."
Dr. Kerri Henderson of Optimal Health Chiropractic and Acupuncture said Medical Assistance had covered one exam per year and spinal adjusting at her clinic for about 25 percent of her patients.
"That’s the primary thing we do, is the spinal adjustment," she said. "It gave people in those situations who needed to be on those discounted or state-aided insurances access to chiropractic for the most important and basic service that we do, which is the spinal evaluation and adjusting. When that was taken away, it abandoned a lot of patients without assistance in this environment of any kind, so it needed to be out of pocket for them."
In speaking with these patients, many of whom now are treated less regularly or cannot come in at all, Henderson said there have been several outcomes.
"Some of them have reported to me doing things like going to the ER, ending up in a physical therapy plan, or having to do pain relievers, muscle relaxers, medical appointments in place of the ability to come in and be adjusted," she said. "They were getting relief, and now have to do services that are more extensive, or greater expense, and possibly not as beneficial because what they really needed was to be adjusted."
There were attempts to get this decision reversed or changed in some way during the most recent legislative session, including efforts from Burtis and Henderson, but nothing progressed. Both continue to be active, including with the Minnesota Chiropractors Association, to seek changes that would bring chiropractic back under Medical Assistance for patients in need. For now, Henderson said she plans to keep doing what she can for the people she can help.
"Keep serving the people who are at my access and to continue to provide a reasonably priced fee schedule for people who are without insurance," she said. "Continue to stay in contact with people who’ve lost their coverage, and encourage them to remember that we still are here and able to serve them, and we’ll continue to try to do that to the best of our ability without their insurance coverage."
For those seeking to have their voices heard, Burtis encouraged people to call and/or email their legislators and share the information and perspectives they have.